While visiting Tennessee last year, my mom’s friend Earl and I got to talking and I expressed my desire to visit Kentucky. Somehow I’d imagined it to be much closer to where we were, but Earl quickly offered to take me to Kentucky on a little road trip. We headed out towards Middlesboro for lunch and then to check out the scenic views at Cumberland Gap, by the tri-state border of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.

From Tennessee you cross over to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. This tunnel wasn’t completed until the mid 90’s, even though there was more than enough traffic right next to a National Historical Park.

We had lunch at the Cracker Barrel, which is an experience in itself. You should go try it out sometime if you get the chance. The menu offers all the specialties of Southern Cooking. Adjacent to the restaurant is a store, where you can buy all kinds of local gifts while you wait for a table. Outside they also had a long row of locally crafted rocking chairs. Unfortunately I couldn’t fit one into my luggage.

The scenery is lush, green and pristine. And gorgeous! When driving back to Tennessee we found this old fashioned hotel sign on the side of the road and even Earl wanted to pull over to take a picture of it. Southern charm at its best!

I love these mountains too. So different from Southeast Alaska which I’m more used to. Though nowadays I guess any mountain will suffice, since living in Finland is pretty depressing at times due to the flatness of the landscape. 😉

Thanks for commenting Jess! I got lucky when visiting Tennessee since our "guide" Earl knows the surrounding area so well. He is a photographer specializing in mountains and photographing people living in the mountains. He had such amazing stories to tell.